Port Edward!!

Hi Everyone!

This morning we weren't really sure about what the day would hold, but we met this morning & asked the Lord to lead us as we prayer walked through Port Edward. Pt. Ed is about 15 minutes from Rupert.
We stopped at Timmy's for a coffee & donut & then sat outside because it was so packed inside. While talking and waiting for the bus, a man came & started conversation with us. He started to share about how he has been helping teens for about 25 years get off the streets & drugs. He is a believer and would like to connect with us about helping out with some of these youth! As he was talking a young guy came up to him & thanked him for his help. He has been clean for 3 months & is currently living on the streets. We are going to get together with this guy & have him over for dinner and games ~ something!


We caught the bus out to Pt. Ed & started prayer walking. Anna, Justin & I started out & we came across an older lady trying to mow her lawn. We stopped to talk with her & ended up helping her for 2 hours. We picked weeds, cut grass & then had "a pop" with her. She talked & shared her life with us & we listened... but as our time came to an end we asked if we could pray with her & she was so grateful for that! She is a strong Catholic & was thankful to see youth out helping & serving! She was so precious ~ we are going to check with her again soon. Her husband died & her son that is currently living with her is really sick. She was so thankful for the help! How the Lord leads!!!

The bus only runs every 4 hours & it only took 45 minutes to prayer walk the entire community! So we had lots of time. We all met at the only "market" in town & hung out... We met more locals as the store was pretty busy. The one person we met was a young girl who we talked to for about 1 hour. She was waiting for her newspapers to come so she could deliver them & then make the 4:30 bus. We asked if we could help her & we did. It was awesome!

The day was a great one as we prayed & asked the Lord to lead us! He did just that!
Thank you for praying with us! We thank you all!!

SEAFEST 2008!!!!

Where do I begin! Seafest, our biggest event, has come and gone. We volunteered with a handful of people this summer to pull of this huge event. The whole city comes out to enjoy this local festival and all the events that it brings! There are about 12,000 people in Rupert and I am sure that every one of them came out. It also attracts many people and vendors from surrounding areas.

Our team helped with the Music & Magic show for families on Thursday night. Friday night they were security guards at the local youth event “Blockstock,” while Josh & I were blessed with tickets to go on the Sunset Cruise. The Sunset Cruise was absolutely amazing! We had 3 hours on the water. We met people from the town, ate wonderful seafood & watched the sun go down! What a kiss from the Lord! The best treat of all is that they fed eagles from the boat. As we sailed we saw 40 to 50 eagles soaring all around, some coming within mere feet of the boat! It was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever experienced. I felt absolutely blessed to be on the boat with Josh. Having a night out and being engulfed in God’s beauty was breathtaking!! The saddest part is that I didn’t have my camera!!!!!!!!

Saturday came; it was a very full day starting at 5am & ending about 11pm. We helped by setting up tents, handing out information, three students dressed in Halibut fish costumes & waved to the crowds from the float! We manned the Soapbox Derby, which was a blast. The street was barricaded & ramps were set up. We had two children at a time go & then the next two. We did that for about 4 hours. Our people were tired as they dragged the cars back up the hill. It was a great day even if we were a bit tired!

The day was packed with people & every vendor was out with their tents & merchandise trying to sell something. It was an incredible site! This town seems so small, but that day the whole town was out & buzzing! The story of Jesus looking out over the crowds and being moved with compassion came to my mind. There are so many here who don’t know Him.

By Sunday we were exhausted, but we had all met some of the locals & really got to know the Special Events team. The Lord has given us favor with this community. We have built relationships that I know will last for years to come! There are many relationships that we are praying for & about. Already we have seen God opening up doors we never thought possible. Please continue to pray for us as we serve the city.

Click on Seafest to see more pics from this great weekend! Enjoy!

Newsletter for beginning of June

Richard & Butze Rapids

This week we met a guy named Richard at the Bus stop. He is originally from Vancouver & moved here 6 years ago. He is raising his cousin, who he legally adopted as a new born, James. We phoned him yesterday to see if he was around & to see if we could get together this week. He was off work for the day so we asked him to go to Butze Rapids. It was a great time! We just hung out, talked & got to know him... He is really friendly & isn't in too drinking and partying. So he was pretty excited to find a group of people that were the same.


As we talked with Richard; he was really open to talking about faith & his past. It was a great time getting to know him & just hang out... I am sure we will be hanging out again soon!
Keep praying that the Lord will open doors for us to be in the community!!

We met a lady named Nancy who is the "Captain" of the Salvation Army. Her and her husband have served in Rupert for 6 years and they started with 30 families. After 6 months of serving the homeless lunches their attendance went to 150 & currently they are serving 300. During this time about 40 youth have come to Christ & they need some help mentoring these students. They opened up a student drop in centre, which has believers and non. Nancy said that we would be able to volunteer with them. They want us to teach them about self esteem & encourage them... We can share the Gospel at the same time. I really hope that we can communicate how valuable they are to God! What an opportunity!
Thanks for continuing to pray for us!

Skeena Relay

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:11

Yesterday was the Skeena Relay race from Rupert to Terrace. This is about 180K!! There were about 26 teams that had 10 people to a team. They had to run about 10k a piece. Our team volunteered to help with the different stations; we had to take down times, walk the runners across the street, & just overall traffic control. It was a long & fun day!

We met so many people. We were all at different legs of the race with other people from the community.... There were people from Rupert, Terrace, & Kitimat that we were getting to know. The group that I was connected with was a group of teachers from Rupert. Two of them were special needs teachers. It was a great connection! I was also amazed to meet a lady named Kristine. She had been to Georgia before & fell in love with Chick-fil-A. She had been to Savannah & Georgia Southern; where my sister graduated from! She had also been to Athens! It really is a small world!! She was too excited when I told her that my sister Jen works for the headquarters & she gave me her e-mail so that I could send her some Chick-fil-A goods. It is pretty funny; Josh & I have thought it would be great to open up a little Chick-fil-A down on Cow Bay. That is even what Kristine had said! So funny!
It was a great time!

Down at the old Railroad station!

Our prayer today has been to see Jesus lifted up! We have been in town all day volunteering with Gordon. He has been so thankful for all of our help. It normally takes him about 5 weeks to prepare for this event. We have been able to cut that down quit a bit. He has been such a joy to get to know & work with.






We have been working on a float for the parade, building & painting barricades, & meeting lots of locals on the bus. We are so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do through us this summer. Everyday we have met someone new. Today we met a guy named Richard, a local that works at Pizza Hut. He is very interested in why we are here & also going hiking with us. We have about 4 local "college aged" students that want to go hiking with us. It has been great to meet some people & connect on their level.


Robbie is working hard to put together "No Parking" signs. He has great skills with the drill!!

Orientation & Seafest Prep!

Last time we updated was Friday night.... Hannah arrived safely on Saturday afternoon. We got introduced & headed down town for the evening. We took the students for the their first Ice cap at Timmy's, which they loved. Then walked around downtown & enjoyed the nice weather & beautiful sunset!!


Sunday we decided to go to Bethel Baptist after being invited by Neil, who is a chaplain for all the fishing boats in town & the Gideons. We had to leave a bit early for the trek across town. We walked about 4 miles & then were greeted by the nicest group of people. It was a great time! There was a potluck after church & we stayed and met some of the locals. The pastor is from South Africa & the only place he has been in Canada is Rupert. He was planning on retiring in South Africa, but God called him here about 2 years ago. He loves the place & the people!

After church we started home & took a detour through the most beautiful walking trails! As we were exiting the trail we were greeted with music & an aroma of pot. We decided to check out the event that was going on & it ended up being a skate board competition for the local youth. They had about 100+ people there. It was a great event! I sat by a lady named Lori, who was born and raised in Rupert; along with her husband. They were so friendly & talkative. It was great to connect with some locals. After the skate event we headed home & settled in for the night.





Monday was a very full day because of Orientation. This was great day, as we shared our vision with the students, watched Dwight Huffman's "Exploration" video, and then sent them out to "scout" the community. Josh & I decided that it would be best to have the students randomly pick a number from a bowl & then that was the team they were on. We then had all the teams go downtown to find Joy at Special Events, their designated place to find out some information about the community & then they had to eat lunch downtown & find something out about their waitress or waiter. When we all met back we were so excited to hear everyones story!

As we listened to the stories; it was overwhelming to see that we had met about 20 people in that activity alone. One team said they had run into someone who had heard we were in town to help volunteer. So the news of us being in town is traveling around quickly. Small towns are good for that! One nickname for Prince Rupert is "Prince Rumor". Hopefully we can spread a good truth around this community!

Either way we are excited to know a bit more about the community & be here for 8 weeks to share the love of the Lord with so many!!

These next two weeks we will be helping to prepare for Seafest. This is the biggest event we will be a part of. This week we will be making a float, building & painting barricades, & helping with other random things. Gordon is who we are helping right now & he is so thankful for the help! He is a retired man who lives on Dodge Cove. He has invited us over one Saturday for salmon sandwiches & then a day of hiking on the island. He wants to take us out on his boat one day too. It is going to be too fun!

Thank you for praying for us! Please continue to do so... we have probably met over 100 people here who know why we are here... May the Lord draw some of these to Himself!!!